Higher Prices Mean Fewer Car Sales

Car sales in April were down, and shocker, the high cost of new cars is being blamed. Imagine that — if you raise prices too much, people actually won’t buy a new car.

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J.D. Power and LMC Automotive, both trusted auto industry consultants with much experience, concluded that April sales were down thanks to higher new car prices combined with fewer shopper incentives.

Thanks to automakers insisting everyone wants SUVs, which are more expensive, it’s getting harder to find a cheap, entry-level car that isn’t priced at over $20,000. In fact, there was a 25 percent drop in sales of cars under $20,000.

The Ford Focus and Chevy Cruze are both getting the ax, among other small inexpensive cars. Mazda has been pushing upmarket, which means higher prices, and everyone seems to be chasing that luxury segment.

Older car shoppers often balk at this sort of news. That is likely the effect of a general lack of knowledge of the entire industry. Among shoppers 55 and older, there was only a 4 percent drop in sales for April. For those 16 to 35 years old, the drop was 8 percent. That means if you’re older, you still probably have plenty of friends buying new cars, and it’s a different story if you’re younger.